Few, if any, international audiophile jazz recordings have maintained the kind
of deep and profound influence over techniques and even entire label repertoire
as Three Blind Mice’s TBM6, TBM23, and TBM30. The of-the-moment realism of
Yoshihiko Kannari’s recordings and production aesthetic of producer and label
head Takeshi “Tee” Fujii have been the benchmark to match. It is to their
immense credit that “Blow Up,” “Midnight Sugar,” and “Misty” have yet to be
matched, even 40 years later.

Impex, who as Cisco Music has had a long association with Tee and Three Blind
Mice, has finally made available these seminal recordings on our
state-of-the-art 24K, HDCD-encoded Gold CD for this first time ever.

Kevin Gray’s careful, unobtrusive mastering provides a near-analog like
listening experience while you explore the deluxe book packaging with original
photographs from the TBM archives and a new set of essays from NPR’s “Rhythm
Planet” host Tom Schnabel.

Impex has given their all to the Three Blind Mice Gold CDs. Giving less for
productions with these legacies would be a legendary mistake.

Touring with the Micky Curtis Band, Yamamoto had the chance to explore several
international experiences that he would later use on this album as he worked
with this band in France, England and Switzerland. On “Midnight Sugar” the
Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio plays two of Tsuyoshi’s own blues improvisations followed
by jazz ballads that became standards for the Trio. The combination of these
titles is nothing but exceptional. It is Yamamoto’s unmistakable skill and his
jazz feeling which adds that certain touch of liveliness and spontaneity and
makes Midnight Sugar a unique experience.